This is one of the easiest recipes in our arsenal and a total favorite! I wouldn’t know about the amazingness that is Major Grey Chicken Curry if it weren’t for my friends Ursula and Megan. They introduced me to Shamiana restaurant in Kirkland years and years ago. While everything is good there, we all agree that the Major Grey Chicken is a standout. When I started working right near Shamiana and could hit up their lunch buffet, my obsession got even worse…and my work days got a lot less productive when I was coming back from a lunch buffet so full I could barely move. I had to try to keep my trips there to a minimum but it was hard on some days!

This recipe is super easy to make at home and is perfect served with some rice and naan. In the future I’ll probably add some veggies to this curry to make it a more well-rounded meal. The original recipe I found online calls for chicken breasts but I’m pretty sure the restaurant uses thighs. I also like to cook my chicken almost all of the way through before adding it back to the curry where some of the recipes had you add the chicken when it wasn’t cooked all the way through. You could really use any chicken for this dish, such as leftover rotisserie chicken, whatever you have on hand!

Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until almost finished, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Add remaining 1/2 tbsp oil to pan and add diced onions. Cook for a few minutes until translucent. Whisk in curry powder and cook for at least 2 minutes. Whisk in Major Grey’s Chutney and the cream. Add salt to taste.

Add diced chicken pieces and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Turn heat to a simmer, stir, and check seasonings. Serve curry over jasmine rice and garnish with green onions.

This Chinese Chicken Salad is one of our favorite 90’s throwback recipes. First of all…it’s called Chinese Chicken Salad. It’s not even a real salad, but I just couldn’t call it by a different name. If I am going to live in a world where this is considered salad…I’m ok with that. We can continue to discuss why this salad isn’t very PC…but instead I’m just going to stop there and say…Long live the 90’s.

Years later, I can see why my mom made this “salad” all of the time. It’s super easy to throw together, it only gets better after a day in the fridge, and it’s a cure-all for the famous “there’s nothing to eat around here.” Work lunches? Check! Late night cravings? Check! It really is the quintessential salad to eat while standing in front of an open fridge door. Chinese Chicken Salad is a classic for a reason!

We haven’t made many changes since the 90’s, because it’s pretty darn good just the way it is. These days I make it with whole wheat pasta, and after taking the photos we realized sesame seeds were a pretty necessary addition. And Sriracha, did it even exist in the 90’s?!? My mind wants to think it did exist before internet memes and before the obsession got a little out of control, but of course, nobody really remembers life before the internet, or Sriracha. Wait…

Recipe
Chinese Chicken Saladby LuluMakes about 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

1 (12 oz) package whole wheat angel hair pasta

3-4 chicken breasts

1/2 cup diced green onions

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes also work well here)

1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (I used ones that weren’t packed in oil, if that’s all you have, that’s ok – just drain them well)

for the dressing:

1/2 cup sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup sesame oil

2/3 cup rice vinegar

optional add-ins:

sriracha to add to the finished salad for some kick

1/4 cup sesame seeds

baby corn, chopped into bite-sized pieces

if anyone has any other add-in ideas, let me know!

Directions

Prepare the chicken: Do whatever way is easiest for you. I preheated the oven to 400F and added some salt and some asian spice seasoning I had to the chicken and baked them until they were done, about 20 minutes. You can poach the chicken, use rotisserie chicken, whatever works! Just make sure the chicken is cooked. This would not but good with raw chicken.

Add all of the dressing ingredients to a jar, close the lid, and shake! I suppose you could whisk everything together, but vigorously shaking this dressing in a jar is the only way we have ever done it. Make sure you give the dressing enough time to marinate, you want to make sure all the sugar gets dissolved.

Cook pasta according to package instructions and drain. Add pasta to a large bowl, shake the dressing one more time, and add about half of it to the pasta and mix well. Dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the pasta. Add the green onion, tomatoes, and sundried tomatoes. Add the rest of the dressing and mix well again. While you can serve immediately, this salad usually tastes better after a night in the refrigerator. Lasts in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

I can’t quite remember when our family started the summer tradition of grilling chicken burgers. Maybe my mom came up with it because a certain daughter of hers (cough cough) was always really picky about regular hamburgers. Or maybe we all just realized that these were better than any other homemade grilled sandwich out there. I rarely order grilled chicken sandwiches at restaurants, because nothing ever compares to Lulu’s classic summer chicken burgers.

In the past, I’ve tried to recreate these chicken burgers myself, but I never can seem to get the marinade quite right. The secret is store-bought margarita mix. Now, this isn’t always something I have laying around, so I have used lime juice instead with sub-par results. As you probably know, margarita mix has added sugar that lime juice does not, and though we have tried with other sweeteners, nothing has ever compared to this marinade and how perfect it tastes on a toasted bun with all the fixings. Continue reading →

I knew I wanted to try to switch up my mom’s classic pot pie recipe (the original blog post is old and not the most beautiful) – and for some reason Cajun Chicken came to mind. I decided to add some fresh jalapenos from our garden and swap out some Guinness (or any other stout beer) for cream sherry.

The Cajun-seasoned chicken and Guinness definitely gave the pot pie a darker, more robust flavor – Jordan loved it. I think I am partial to my mom’s way – the use of white wine or cream sherry definitely gives off more of a comfort food factor for me.

This time around I used Trader Joe’s canned biscuits as my crust. I rolled out the biscuit dough on a lightly floured surface until they were about the right size to go over the ramekins. Notice from the above photos it was a tad hard for me to cut vent holes – these biscuits were a lot thicker than the canned ones I have used in the past. I probably will stick to frozen puff pastry in the future as I like the thin, flaky crust that bakes up on the pot pies.

Recipes revamps are always worth a shot – I like the original, husband likes this one…guess I just started an ongoing pot pie debate?

Preheat oven to 400F. Season chicken with some Cajun seasoning, plus a little salt and pepper (I used a cajun seasoning with no salt added). You can use any kind of chicken you want, for this particular recipe I had some frozen chicken tenders laying around so I thawed those out. Skin on, bone on chicken works great too. After seasoning the chicken, put on a sheet pan and cook in the oven until done. Remove from oven, shred chicken, and set aside.

Meanwhile, dice the onion, garlic (if using), carrot, celery, jalapenos, and mushrooms. Add a tbsp of olive oil and about a tbsp of butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and let cook for a few minutes, then add the garlic (if using), carrots, celery, and jalapenos. If you are using the mushrooms, I like to sauté them in a separate pan with some butter, chicken broth, and thyme. Add a little bit of salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and thyme to the onion and vegetable mixture. If everything seems dry feel free to add a small splash of chicken broth. Stir.

Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of flour over the mixture and stir constantly until the flour is dissolved. The mixture will be thick. Add the beer, a little at a time, until you start getting to the thickness of pot pie that you like. Add a splash of cream and more chicken broth. You don’t want your mixture to be too thick because the crust will soak up some of the liquid.

Once your pot pie mixture is the way you like, add the mixture to ramekins or a large pie dish. You don’t want to fill your ramekins up to the very top, you need to leave room for the crust. I almost always make pot pies in ramekins, and depending on what type of pre-made crust I am using (crescent rolls, puff pastry, frozen pie dough, etc) I just roll out and shape pieces to fit the mold.

Place ramekins on a large baking sheet and bake pot pies at 400F for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are nice and browned.

These curry chicken wraps are a total family fave. Every time we make them, people just can’t get enough. They are one of my favorite things to bring on picnics, road trips, or just to eat for dinner! You could definitely have the curry chicken mixture over a bed of greens, but there is something about having these in wrap form that makes me not want to have them any other way.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in pieces.

For the dressing, whisk the mayonnaise, wine, chutney, curry powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl until smooth. If you want a smoother mix, you can put ingredients in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process.

Combine the chicken with enough dressing to moisten well. Add the celery, scallions, and raisins, and mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Add the cashews to the chicken.

Fill the center of each tortilla with the chicken mixture. Fold the 2 sides of the tortilla over the filling so that the sides overlap. Roll the tortilla from bottom to top, and cut in half diagonally.

Everyone loves the lettuce wraps from a certain chain restaurant…Many have tried to recreate them, but I think there is no need after finding this recipe. It’s fast, easy, and better than any restaurant wrap! Maybe I am biased because we used beautiful lettuce from our garden. Regardless, what a healthy and fun at-home meal!

Mix chicken with 1 tbsp. fish sauce, the sugar, and 2 tbsp. ginger in a small bowl; set aside. In another small bowl, stir hoisin sauce with lime juice, peanut butter, and remaining 1 tsp. fish sauce until smooth; set sauce aside.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Swirl in oil. Add garlic and remaining 1 tbsp. ginger and cook until fragrant. Add chicken and cook, stirring and breaking up chunks, until no longer pink, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add carrot, lemongrass, and chiles and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute more. Add cucumber, green onions, and peanuts and stir to combine. Add salt to taste. I added a bit of the hoisin sauce mixture to the chicken to spice it up. Transfer to a serving bowl.

To eat, spread some hoisin sauce on a lettuce cup. Top with chicken mixture, fold up, and eat with your hands.

I have been looking for an excuse to make homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup for a long time. It’s one of those soups that you can eat on just about any occasion, it was perfect on a sunny spring day with some homemade margaritas and guacamole.

The best part is it is also super easy! I cannot wait to make this a staple around my house. My aunt advised to use the chicken with skin on and bone in since it has more flavor, it was a little more effort but worth it! Adding black beans and olives is totally optional here, but 100% necessary for me in just about every mexican dish.

One of the most fun parts of Chicken Tortilla Soup is all of the add-ins you use to make it your way! We had tortilla, chips, sour cream, cheese, avocado, black beans, salsa, and black olives on the table for people to choose from.

I also didn’t know Ina Garten had an aversion to cilantro, it is so sad when I find out people despise the herb, but I know it’s typically a weird genetic thing.

Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until done. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), 1 teaspoon pepper, and the cilantro, if using. Cut the tortillas in 1/2, then cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and black beans (if using) and season to taste. Serve the soup hot topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, and broken tortilla chips.

Recipes where you truly can just “wing it” are kind of hard to explain. I know my mom probably hates it when I make her dig up an old one she has memorized, or heaven forbid write every detail out in an email to me.

After making these Chicken Pot Pies, I get it. They are really easy, and you totally should wing it every time you make it, because regardless they will probably turn out good. My description, however, is quite long and upon first glance it probably does not seem easy because it takes me about 3 paragraphs to explain it. Note to Self: writing out a recipe from scratch like Ina is probably never gonna happen.

BUT alas, once you make these, you are set on chicken pot pies for life. You can choose to get as fancy or frivolous as you want, I suppose I will make variations on this in the future (buffalo chicken pot pies perhaps?) but for now, this satisfies me and the future-hubs-to-be. Remember, all amounts in the recipe below are relative. you just have to go for it. You may also have round ramekins instead of rectangular ones like me, or you may want to just make it all in a giant pie dish (I however, prefer my own damn personal pie).

Mom – thank you for writing everything down for me, and explaining it in a way you knew I would understand. Because, if you didn’t write it all down and expected me to do it from memory off that time we made these together, I definitely would have forgotten the chicken broth, cream, and sherry…AKA the ingredients that hold the recipe together!

Recipe

Lulu’s Chicken Pot Pies (A wingin’ it recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups cooked Chicken

Olive Oil

Butter

1.5 cups Carrots

1.5 cups Celery

1.5 cups Onion, diced

(a few) splashes Chicken Broth

1/4 cup Flour

splash Half and Half or Heavy Cream

splash Cream Sherry

1 tbsp (ish) Thyme

1 tbsp (ish) Poultry Seasoning

Salt, Pepper to taste

Sauteed Mushrooms (optional)

Pillsbury Grands, Pie Dough, or Puff Pastry

egg wash

Directions

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees F.

Use any kind of chicken you like, such as a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. I marinated boneless chicken tenders in some olive oil, white wine, thyme, salt and pepper. I cooked the chicken over medium heat in a large skillet on the stove. After cooking, I shredded the chicken into bite sized pieces, and set aside.

Chop a small/medium onion and start cooking it on the stove in a bit of olive oil and butter. Add some chopped celery and carrots. Don’t forget to add some salt and pepper and a bit of thyme and even some poultry seasoning. Let the mixture cook down until veggies are soft. If they seem to get too dry add a little chicken stock, but not too much. *NOTE: At this point you can cook some sliced mushrooms in another skillet with butter and add them a little later.

After the veggies have cooked down a bit, add about 1/4 cup of flour and mix it around until it is absorbed. It will seem very thick and dry at this point but make sure that the flour is fully mixed in before slowly adding some more chicken broth. This should be on low heat so that you don’t burn the mixture. You will slowly see the veggie/flour mixture thickening up and keep adding the chicken broth slowly to get the right consistency. Don’t let it get too thin because you also want to add a SPLASH of sherry and some heavy cream or half and half to the mixture. You don’t want it to be too dry because the crust will absorb some of the mixture. At this point you can add your cooked mushrooms that are already seasoned and the cut up chicken. Mix this all together and see how it tastes. You may have to add some salt and pepper or even a little butter and mix it up.

Place the chicken mixture into ramekins and then roll out a biscuit, puff pastry sheet, or pie crust and place it over the chicken mixture. You don’t want a huge amount of dough on top so it is best to roll it out. Make some vent holes for the steam on top of the crust, and feel free to place a little egg wash over the dough so it browns up nice. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and into the oven at about 400 degrees. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Up until now, I’ve only ordered wings from a bar. That’s just what people do. You don’t make wings at home…you eat them in a bar, with lots of beer. Maybe with a gallon of bleu cheese dressing (kidding!). Some carrots and celery too, as an afterthought.

Little wingy’s ready to go into the oven.

But, AS USUAL, homemade is better, and way more satisfying. I was worried these wouldn’t go over well with Jordan since they weren’t super spicy and buffalo-y, but Baked Brown Sugar Wings prevailed.

He did, however, add sriracha to his wings after they came out of the oven. It was surprisingly the most amazing flavor combination. Somehow, all of the spices complimented each other so well. The sriracha didn’t taste nearly as spicy as it usually does. Next time, we will be adding sriracha to the wing coating.

And the sauce! Oh, the sauce. Honestly, it would taste good on anything. Crackers, baguette, veggies, sandwiches…YUM! It tasted great on the wings as well. I didn’t reach for ranch or bleu cheese once.